Internet of Things for Sustainable Human Health

The sustainable health IoT has the strong potential to bring tremendous improvements in human health and well-being through sensing, and monitoring of health impacts across the whole spectrum of climate change. The sustainable health IoT enables development of a systems approach in the area of human health and ecosystem. It allows integration of broader health sub-areas in a bigger archetype for improving sustainability in health in the realm of social, economic, and environmental sectors. This integration provides a powerful health IoT framework for sustainable health and community goals in the wake of changing climate. In this chapter, a detailed description of climate-related health impacts on human health is provided. The sensing, communications, and monitoring technologies are discussed. The impact of key environmental and human health factors on the development of new IoT technologies also analyzed

Statistical Methods for Modeling the Compressive Strength of Geopolymer Mortar

In recent years, geopolymer has been developed as an alternative to Portland cement (PC) because of the significant carbon dioxide emissions produced by the cement manufacturing industry. A wide range of source binder materials has been used to prepare geopolymers; however, fly ash (FA) is the most used binder material for creating geopolymer concrete due to its low cost, wide availability, and increased potential for geopolymer preparation. In this paper, 247 experimental datasets were obtained from the literature to develop multiscale models to predict fly-ash-based geopolymer mortar compressive strength (CS). In the modeling process, thirteen different input model parameters were considered to estimate the CS of fly-ash-based geopolymer mortar. The collected data contained various mix proportions and different curing ages (1 to 28 days), as well as different curing temperatures. The CS of all types of cementitious composites, including geopolymer mortars, is one of the most important properties; thus, developing a credible model for forecasting CS has become a priority. Therefore, in this study, three different models, namely, linear regression (LR), multinominal logistic regression (MLR), and nonlinear regression (NLR) were developed to predict the CS of geopolymer mortar. The proposed models were then evaluated using different statistical assessments, including the coefficient of determination (R2), root mean squared error (RMSE), scatter index (SI), objective function value (OBJ), and mean absolute error (MAE). It was found that the NLR model performed better than the LR and MLR models. For the NLR model, R2, RMSE, SI, and OBJ were 0.933, 4.294 MPa, 0.138, 4.209, respectively. The SI value of NLR was 44 and 41% lower than the LR and MLR models’ SI values, respectively. From the sensitivity analysis result, the most effective parameters for predicting CS of geopolymer mortar were the SiO2 percentage of the FA and the alkaline liquid-to-binder ratio of the mixture

Compressive Strength of Sustainable Geopolymer Concrete Composites: A State-of-the-Art Review

The building industry, which emits a significant quantity of greenhouse gases, is under tremendous pressure due to global climate change and its consequences for communities. Given the environmental issues associated with cement production, geopolymer concrete has emerged as a sustainable construction material. Geopolymer concrete is an eco-friendly construction material that uses industrial or agricultural by-product ashes as the principal binder instead of Portland cement. Fly ash, ground granulated blast furnace slag, rice husk ash, metakaolin, and palm oil fuel ash were all employed as binders in geopolymer concrete, with fly ash being the most frequent. The most important engineering property for all types of concrete composites, including geopolymer concrete, is the compressive strength. It is influenced by different parameters such as the chemical composition of the binder materials, alkaline liquid to binder ratio, extra water content, superplasticizers dosages, binder content, fine and coarse aggregate content, sodium hydroxide and sodium silicate content, the ratio of sodium silicate to sodium hydroxide, the concentration of sodium hydroxide (molarity), curing temperature, curing durations inside oven, and specimen ages. In order to demonstrate the effects of these varied parameters on the compressive strength of the fly ash-based geopolymer concrete, a comprehensive dataset of 800 samples was gathered and analyzed. According to the findings, the curing temperature, sodium silicate content, and alkaline solution to binder ratio are the most significant independent parameters influencing the compressive strength of the fly ash-based geopolymer concrete (FA-BGPC) composites

Histoplasmose pulmonar aguda no Rio Grande do Sul Acute pulmonary histoplasmosis in the State of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

INTRODUÇÃO: A histoplasmose pulmonar aguda depende da inalação de uma grande quantidade de propágulos fúngicos por um paciente hígido. O tempo de exposição determina a gravidade da doença. Uma epidemia é influenciada por fatores que afetam o crescimento e a transmissão do Histoplasma capsulatum var. capsulatum na natureza. OBJETIVO: Identificar os aspectos epidemiológicos e clínico-laboratoriais dos pacientes com histoplasmose pulmonar aguda no Rio Grande do Sul e compará-los com as microepidemias relatadas no Brasil. MÉTODO: Foram revisados 212 prontuários clínicos de pacientes com histoplasmose dos arquivos do Laboratório de Micologia do Complexo Hospitalar Santa Casa de Porto Alegre (RS) num período de 25 anos (1977-2002). Foram identificados e incluídos no estudo os casos de histoplasmose pulmonar aguda com cultivo positivo e/ou achado histopatológico compatível. As microepidemias foram diagnosticadas com a comprovação de um caso ou evidência soromicológica com história clínica compatível. Foram revisadas as microepidemias publicadas no Brasil. RESULTADOS: Dezoito de um total de 212 pacientes (8,5%) foram incluídos no trabalho. A idade variou de 8 a 63 anos (média de 35,4; mediana de 34,5), e 67% eram do sexo masculino. A história epidemiológica foi sugestiva em 11 pacientes (61%). O tipo primário de histoplasmose pulmonar aguda foi o mais freqüente (17; 95%). Houve predomínio de casos isolados. CONCLUSÃO: O reconhecimento de casos isolados e a presença de microepidemias demonstram a abundância do H. capsulatum no solo, e juntamente com a ocorrência de todas as formas da doença, confirmam o Rio Grande do Sul como hiperendêmico para histoplasmose.<br>BACKGROUND: Acute pulmonary histoplasmosis is a respiratory infection occurring when an otherwise healthy individual inhales a large quantity of fungal propagules. Length of exposure determines disease severity. An epidemic is influenced by factors affecting the growth and transmission of Histoplasma capsulatum var. capsulatum in nature. OBJECTIVE: To identify epidemiological and clinical aspects of patients with acute pulmonary histoplasmosis in the state of Rio Grande do Sul (RS) and compare these aspects with those of other cluster outbreaks reported in Brazil. METHOD: The charts of 212 patients diagnosed with histoplasmosis over a 25-year period (1977-2002) were obtained from the archives of the Laboratório de Micologia from Complexo Hospitalar Santa Casa (Santa Casa Hospital Mycology Laboratory), in the city of Porto Alegre (RS). In reviewing these patient charts, we identified and included in the study cases of acute pulmonary histoplasmosis in which there was a positive culture and/or histopathological findings consistent with the diagnosis. Outbreaks were defined as one confirmed case or positive immunodifusion Histoplasma capsulatum with compatible clinical history. All reported Brazilian outbreaks were reviewed. RESULTS: Of the 212 patient charts reviewed, 18 (8.5%) were selected for inclusion in the study. Among those 18 patients, ages ranged from 8 to 63 years (median, 35.4), and 67% were male. Epidemiological histories were suggestive of the disease in 11 patients (61%). The most common disease type, seen in 17 patients (95%), was primary acute pulmonary histoplasmosis, and there was a predominance of isolated cases. CONCLUSION: The identification of isolated cases and the presence of cluster outbreaks demonstrate the abundance of H. capsulatum in the soil and, together with the occurrence of all forms of the disease, confirms the assumption that Rio Grande do Sul is a hyperendemic region for histoplasmosis